Tag Archives: 2016

Hey! We just released a new LP by Small Parks. It’s called Honest Light. We really like it! Stream it below and order the LP here!

Small Parks have been bringing thoughtful, melodic, and high energy music to the world since 2012, playing house shows, festivals, and everything in between, spreading their brand of later Saves The Day meets Sunny Day Real Estate meets Death Cab For Cutie emo/punk throughout the Mitten State and beyond. After a handful of self-released EPs, they unleashed their debut full-length Honest Light digitally in spring 2016, partnering up with GTG for the vinyl release in October 2016. With plans for further DIY touring on the docket, Small Parks are bound to continue to remain a staple of the midwestern underground for years to come.

GTG Fest 2016: SUCCESS! Soooooo many good times. Thanks so much to The Avenue Cafe, all the raffle donors, the attendees, the bands, the city of Lansing… everyone! GTG Fest 2016 was the biggest year yet for us and we can’t wait to see what the future holds! Even if right now we’re all still nursing our sore bodies and unraveled minds! That’s how you know it’s a fest weekend!

This weekend was also really important to us because we released two new LPs and in the process had two more bands join our family! Small Parks released their debut LP “Honest Light” on vinyl (it came out digitally in the spring but now it’s a for-real real record!) Friday night, with The Stick Arounds following suit with the release of their debut (recorded live at the much beloved and missed Mystery Garage) LP “Mystery Garage” on Saturday night. Two different perspectives of the Michigan DIY community, many styles and sounds, and all good, honest pure-GTG Records goodness. You can order ’em at our store right now!

Expect further updates on these two great bands and more info on their records in the coming days. It was a great weekend and there’s still so much to take in! Good times.

Get it! The latest GTG release, a four-way split cassette featuring two new songs apiece from Bong Mountain, Bluff Called, Protected Left, and Frank And Earnest! Available digitally and on cassette, get your copy now!

I get excited about every show I play. You never know how a show is really going to go, it could look like it’ll be a great crowd and then the response is tepid… the room could be empty before you start and then suddenly fill up with enthusiastic, awesome people. The band could be a well-oiled machine but then inexplicably fall off the rails for no real reason, or you could be under-rehearsed and then totally nail the set. Every show has the promise of something new and exciting and I hope that never changes.

This Friday I’ll be playing the first proper show in over two years by my very first band Drinking Mercury. We’re playing at GTG House with Brook Pridemore, Elroy Meltzer, and Rent Strike. This band has continued to exist for over 16 years because the sheer joy of making music together is something that we can’t get away from and even when we don’t do anything for extended periods of time we can always pick it back up where we left off. We’re currently recording for a new split LP that we’ll all be talking about plenty in the not-too-distant future but as is the nature of the band it could be another little while before we play live again and, well, playing live is incomparable to anything else. Get some insights into our recording and rehearsal process on the band facebook page and try and get as excited as us.

I don’t really have more to add. Just excited! Being excited is cool, right? Kids still use that word still… “cool”? – Tommy